The Labyrinth
by xanthiascott
Summary: Leo Valdez and one of his friend enter the Labyrinth. I'll be posting as regularly as possible.
1. Chapter 1

The Labyrinth

Chapter One

Leo and Moe were walking to school. It was a dark Monday morning in San Francisco and they were the only ones in the street. Something was strange about that, it should be rush hour. Leo Valdez was short and wiry, but he had an impish face and devilish smile that told everyone within a 5 mile radius that he was planning something.

"So Moe, you been up to anything lately?" Leo asked, "Naw, just the norm, became a man, nothing short of a normal weekend. You?" Moe Keelson was tall, slim, and athletic. He had a British background, his ancestors were Welsh pilgrims. His mother was Jewish (obviously) but his father was a catholic.

Leo sighed. "Moe, you know I'm an orphan, I don't get out much, do I?" He wasn't angry, but he wanted people to respect the fact he was an orphan. "Ah, sorry Leo..." That's what Leo liked about Moe, he was quick to apologise. "Is okay man! Come on, we're going to be late." Leo was always moving, always escaping the past, just to escape... He shuddered. Just move along. Move along. They called it ADHD, but it was his own free will. He liked being on the go. It was the only way to escape the pain.

"No, Leo wait, there's like... Like a triangle." Leo was thankful. He was sinking into the past. It was overtaking him. "And? A triangle?" He acted chafed. "It's glowing... Glowing blue." Moe looked mesmerised; he looked unlike anything Leo had ever seen on his face before.

"Man, you been having the magic mushrooms?" Leo tried to act funny. "No, Leo, I'm being serious, It's actually glowing." Moe inched forward towards the bench. Leo took a closer look. He could see a triangle that, with an amount of concentration and an imaginative squint, did glow blue. "Whoa, what is that?" Leo was actually bemused. Leo, who had made steam powered chicken chuckers, Leo, who had brought the elastic band war machine to New Orleans. It was a glowing triangle. Was it patented? He leant forward and touched it.


	2. Chapter 2

The Labyrinth

Chapter 2

He touched it. Leo's hand stung, but more importantly, the bench had folded in on itself, revealing a dark chasm, with steps leading down into it. "Whoa." He was spellbound.

Moe, on the other hand, had no loss of words. "Leo, how did you do that? It was amazing! I've seen that triangle so many times, but it wasn't glowing and I don't think we should go in there" Leo needed to think. "Moe, shh shh." Thankfully, he shut up.

Leo took a bright pocket torch out of his pocket. He switched it on, and descended. Moe looked unsure for a couple of seconds, and then swiftly followed.

They entered what seemed to be an unused subway station. It was unlit, apart from Leo's torch, and there didn't seem to be any chance at catching the train to Everett Middle School. "Snap," Leo said, "and here I was thinking we'd be late." Moe rarely laughed at Leo's jokes. Today was no exception. "Leo, methinks you need new material." Normally, Leo would have made another quip in retaliation, but he didn't even have to hold it back; there was none. He was engrossed in this subway.

Leo sidled towards the TV made for showing the train times. "Hey Moe, want to have some fun?" He grinned. Moe's face lit up. He had seen what Leo could do with machines. "Is there any other answer?"

While Leo got to work with the TV, Moe took a look around. It looked like a normal subway, but there was something wrong about it. He couldn't put his finger on it, just... A bad vibe.

Suddenly, he heard a distant roar. "Leo, did you hear that?" Leo was still working, his fingers a blur. "What?" He was obviously a good liar. "Leo, I'm being serious, something is coming." Moe decided to leave the subway. "Leo, come on, we're going. I th- whoa. You're an artist" Leo had finished working. On the screen was a full colour image of Moe, flicking on and off like fairy lights.

"Leo, that is seriously amazing, but we need. To. Leave." Leo's face was a mask of mock innocence. "You're right professor Moe; I wanna get to do the test" Moe started noticing things that he hadn't before, like the graffiti on the walls reading _Leave_ and _Do you want to be next?_

"Leo, I'm seriously getting scared, we need to leave" Leo cocked his head. "You hear that? It's a train! Let's get into it" Moe turned his back "Aagh! How many times do I have to tell you before you believe it? We have to leave!"

The train came trundling in. It had the same strange graffiti that was on the walls. Leo didn't seem to notice. "Cool, a ghost train!" He stepped in, followed by an anxious Moe.


	3. Chapter 3

The Labyrinth

Chapter 3

Leo stepped in the train, followed by an anxious Moe. "Leo, this isn't funny. We've missed the assembly and 1st period. Come back. This is strange" He didn't answer.

Leo's eyes were glazed. He was walking like a zombie, except without the arms. They made their way through the first carriage and into the next, Moe's heart pumping ridiculous amounts of adrenalin through his veins.

A young man was sitting on a passenger seat. He had curly shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes and a perfect tan. He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt that said _#San Fran_ on it.

"Well it's about time," he said with a severe look, only given away by a twinkle in his eyes."I've been waiting here all morning." Moe was at a loss for words. Leo, on the other hand, had snapped awake and acted like someone had sneaked up on him and jumped him. "Whoa, Moe, where are we?"

"I'm sorry Hephaestus couldn't come here himself, He's trying to convey some sense into the other gods on smiting Luke Castellan." His face was of bliss when he talked about Hephaestus. "Wait. Hephaestus." Moe snapped his fingers. "He's, like, the god of tools?" He had heard those musty old myths about ancient Greece and all its wacky customs. "Wait, what?" Leo was, evidently confused.

"My dear young boy. Have you ever heard of the Greek myths? Zeus, Hephaestus, Apollo?" This man looked bored. "Well, yeah…" Leo looked uncomfortable. "The Greek gods are real. They follow wherever the power of civilization is strongest. For instance, America."

Leo and Moe where dumbfounded. Moe looked scandalized, but Leo was in awe. "Whoa, that's actually pretty cool!" Moe was quiet. He was uncomfortable.

"I, in fact, am an automaton of Hephaestus' design." The robot looked proud. Leo regained his composure and said "Yeah? Why are you here then?"


	4. Chapter 4

The Labyrinth

Chapter four.

_**Hey guys. The ethics in this one are slightly messed up. I am a Christian, and I wasn't thinking when I made Moe a Jew. This is the last one, so please leave a review of what you thought.. Just please don't be offended.**__**:) (Did you like The Picture of Dorian Grey twist?). And, one last note, Arachnae can get around, all right? And anyway, it's the Labyrinth.**_

"Such audacity!" The robot was impressed with Leo. That was the first time inn a while. Despite the bizarreness of the situation, Leo was still amused. "Um. Yeah. So are you going to answer the question or not?" Leo was curious. "Why yes. I'm an automaton from Lord Hephaestus' master forge, Vesuvius. My metal is ice from the river Lethe, cooled in the blood of Kampe. I have been blessed by Athena. I am immortal. I am Steve Jobs, Steven Hawking, Thomas Edison and Leonardo Da Vinci. To name a few." He looked bored, again. Leo wondered if he wanted to be here. "Soooo, yeah. I'm Leo Valdez. This is my friend, Moe." Moe had sat down on a grotty chair, and held his head in his hands.

"It's a lie. All a lie." Moe was clearly distressed. "My dear young boy. Has it ever occurred to you who Beelzebub is? Who the Devil can appear as? The Greek gods were just personifications of these, and more. Yes, we compromised, but the gods are as Christians say, 'sinful.' They fornicate, they rape, they lie. They are proud. It is the Christians who are right, but the gods are apparitions of your Devil." "But how can I believe this?" Moe didn't want to believe. It was too hard. "You don't have to. People believe what they want to believe, and that's a fact of life. You and Leo will have your memory erased after you leave. Which I suggest you do within, ohh, a minute. And Leo, Festus is waiting." The robot disappeared, leaving Leo and Moe scrambling towards the exit.

"Hang on. The doorway's sealed." Leo got panicky. "No, Leo, the triangle's still here. I can feel it. Let me look for it." Moe was calm. A sense of peace. "Yeah, okay man, just be quick. Whoa." The TV screen now had Moe looking disheveled and melancholy. "I need to fix this." That was a flaw in Leo's character. He couldn't leave a machine broken. "Leo. When I say I've found the triangle, I want you to come." Moe was deadly serious. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Leo started working. Moe's appearance changed, and he got more elated as Leo continued his work. "Hey, Leo. Been nice adventuring with you." Moe had actually turned away from the wall. "You too, Welsh head." Leo had his back turned and his attention was on the TV, but it was heartfelt.

"Found it." Moe had succeeded. "Come on Leo." Leo had his tongue sticking out, and he was still working on the TV. "I just need to connect this wire, and…" Moe waited ten seconds. "We're good to go. Moe? Moe!" Moe wasn't there, but a dark shape emerged from the darkness. It was a giant spider. "Tasteful mortal. Blessed by Athena? Deserves to die. Wimp. But a demigod? Much more guts! Heh, heh." Leo was amazed. "What? Super intelligent robots and now this? What kind of a… Oh." He realized that the shape on this spider's abdomen was Moe. He took the largest screwdriver he had out of his pocket. He was sure he hadn't had it before, but he flung it at the spider which went into one of her eyes. She was dazed for a second, but that gave Leo enough time to scramble to the wall and touch the triangle at the bottom corner of the wall. "No fair" Leo muttered. He ran up the stairs, monkey style, and into the daylight.

Leo had no idea what he was doing. It was 3:30 and he knew something terrible had happened. So he did what had become a reflex to him. He ran.


End file.
